By Domenico Maceri
"I have a 9-year-old grandson that loves language and I bought him the Rosetta Stone for the holiday". New York City School Chancellor Carmen Fariña offered this advice to a parent who was unhappy about the foreign language cuts in her son's class.
The Rosetta Stone or any other CD program does not replace a class from the point of view of quality. In addition, about fifty percent of New York City students fall below the poverty line and cannot afford the two hundred dollar expense.
Fariña's weak recommendation goes far beyond, though, since it confirms the view in American education that foreign languages are a "frill" as is often the case with music and art. When you make cuts, you aim your fire ate these "frills."
It's a view that forms a sharp contrast with the rest of the world where foreign languages, particularly English, are considered basic subjects alongside of the national language, mathematics, and sciences.
English is the de facto world's lingua franca because of the economic, military, technological, and cultural power of English-speaking countries. It is the dominant language in United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. English is also the dominant or one the working languages in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, etc.
In all, 47 countries around the world have English as the dominant or one of the national languages. With more than four hundred million people speaking English as a native language and another 400 million speaking it as a second language, it dominates the linguistic global landscape. Since "everyone" speaks English, the study of other languages becomes less vital. The old joke about a trilingual speaking three languages and a monolingual being an American still holds true to a large extent.
This situation puts Americans at a disadvantage as they interact with others who may speak two or more languages. At times it can be dangerous to our security. Soon after 9/11, for example, it was revealed that the U.S. had collected huge amounts of data, which no one had examined because of linguistic limitations. It's possible and indeed likely that some of the data included information, which would have been useful in fighting terrorism.
Knowing other languages represents the key to understand different cultures and other belief systems. Knowledge of Arabic and other languages spoken by the followers of Islam enables you to understand the religion of more than a billion people. Knowledge of other languages enables you to grasp the motivation of people who may want to do you harm and provide the tools to prevent problems.
Ironically, the United States, as a nation of immigrants, has a goldmine of linguistic talent. The US census tells us that more than sixty million residents speak a language other than English at home. Sadly, this linguistic talent tends to disappear after a generation or two as people integrate into American culture and the parents or grandparents' language becomes a faint memory. Success in the US depends on knowledge of the English language. The idea of being a bilingual American has never taken root in America. Becoming an American means becoming monolingual. This trend eventually makes its way into schools where foreign languages are viewed as a desirable but not as essential subject.
You can do a lot with English only but foreign languages are the key to understand others and succeed in the global market. The Swiss know something about it. In addition to the four official languages, English is becoming indispensable for the European country. Beyond the economic aspect, adding other languages to English means discovering our shared humanity regardless of what language we may speak.
Domenico Maceri, Ph.D. at U.C. Santa Barbara, is a free lance writer living in San Luis Obispo. Some of his articles have won awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications.
"I have a 9-year-old grandson that loves language and I bought him the Rosetta Stone for the holiday". New York City School Chancellor Carmen Fariña offered this advice to a parent who was unhappy about the foreign language cuts in her son's class.
The Rosetta Stone or any other CD program does not replace a class from the point of view of quality. In addition, about fifty percent of New York City students fall below the poverty line and cannot afford the two hundred dollar expense.
Fariña's weak recommendation goes far beyond, though, since it confirms the view in American education that foreign languages are a "frill" as is often the case with music and art. When you make cuts, you aim your fire ate these "frills."
It's a view that forms a sharp contrast with the rest of the world where foreign languages, particularly English, are considered basic subjects alongside of the national language, mathematics, and sciences.
English is the de facto world's lingua franca because of the economic, military, technological, and cultural power of English-speaking countries. It is the dominant language in United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. English is also the dominant or one the working languages in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, etc.
In all, 47 countries around the world have English as the dominant or one of the national languages. With more than four hundred million people speaking English as a native language and another 400 million speaking it as a second language, it dominates the linguistic global landscape. Since "everyone" speaks English, the study of other languages becomes less vital. The old joke about a trilingual speaking three languages and a monolingual being an American still holds true to a large extent.
This situation puts Americans at a disadvantage as they interact with others who may speak two or more languages. At times it can be dangerous to our security. Soon after 9/11, for example, it was revealed that the U.S. had collected huge amounts of data, which no one had examined because of linguistic limitations. It's possible and indeed likely that some of the data included information, which would have been useful in fighting terrorism.
Knowing other languages represents the key to understand different cultures and other belief systems. Knowledge of Arabic and other languages spoken by the followers of Islam enables you to understand the religion of more than a billion people. Knowledge of other languages enables you to grasp the motivation of people who may want to do you harm and provide the tools to prevent problems.
Ironically, the United States, as a nation of immigrants, has a goldmine of linguistic talent. The US census tells us that more than sixty million residents speak a language other than English at home. Sadly, this linguistic talent tends to disappear after a generation or two as people integrate into American culture and the parents or grandparents' language becomes a faint memory. Success in the US depends on knowledge of the English language. The idea of being a bilingual American has never taken root in America. Becoming an American means becoming monolingual. This trend eventually makes its way into schools where foreign languages are viewed as a desirable but not as essential subject.
You can do a lot with English only but foreign languages are the key to understand others and succeed in the global market. The Swiss know something about it. In addition to the four official languages, English is becoming indispensable for the European country. Beyond the economic aspect, adding other languages to English means discovering our shared humanity regardless of what language we may speak.
Domenico Maceri, Ph.D. at U.C. Santa Barbara, is a free lance writer living in San Luis Obispo. Some of his articles have won awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications.
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